Someday, a green tax we can all be thankful for

A carbon tax on the use of fossil fuels could help shift the economy toward cleaner energy.

By Ellie Whitney

Here’s my hope for the future. Imagine it is September 2015. And imagine that, two years ago, Congress passed the Carbon Fee-and-Rebate Act of 2013. The Internal Revenue Service began collecting fees from sales of coal, oil and gas and paying out the proceeds to American households.

My “green check” covers the gradual increases in the prices of fuels for my car and home, and there is money left over. I am also buying goods and services to reduce my fuel use.

It was hard to get the carbon tax passed. First, we established that global warming was happening. Then we proved it was caused by excess gases, such as carbon dioxide, accumulating in the atmosphere. Then we showed that the excess carbon dioxide was coming from the fossil fuels we were burning for energy.

Next, we demonstrated that alternative resources, including wind, solar and geothermal energy, were sufficient to meet our energy needs. That was difficult, because those enterprises were underfunded. And when our politicos decided to throw money at energy resources, they used up the available funds by investing in more fossil-fuel approaches — such as fracking for natural gas and blowing up mountaintops for coal — ghastly choices.

t took an earthquake-like upheaval in the public’s thinking to arrive at the conclusion that we must not invest in more fossil fuel exploitation, but in clean alternatives. That we must tax the resources we should use less of (i.e., fossil fuels) and free up funds for those we should use more of (i.e., clean-energy resources).

We faced huge opposition in Congress. Many members had a knee-jerk reaction to the word “tax” — any kind of tax, collected from anyone and used for no-matter-what. We had to show them that this carbon tax was unlike other taxes in two ways.

First, the proceeds would not enlarge the government, but would be passed back to American households. (This is known as a “revenue-neutral” measure.)

Second, the tax would be paid, not by consumers, but by fossil fuel companies. Yes, the companies would raise fuel prices, but competition would keep the rises gradual.

What other taxes do you know that return to you more income than they cost you?

Finally, most voters supported the change and then Congress came around. The carbon tax is now shifting our economy from near-complete dependence on fossil fuels toward greater and greater reliance on clean energy.

And now (in my 2015 dream), the carbon tax has been in effect for two years. It started low ($10 per ton of carbon). It is rising by $10 increments yearly, enabling individuals, businesses and industry to plan ahead, without fear of the volatile ups and downs we used to see. Investors, too, can plan ahead, expecting a steady rise in fuel prices, rather than a roller-coaster ride.

Thanks to the carbon tax, the government need not struggle to make regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency is not involved. We are discontinuing earlier fossil-fuel subsidies and introducing no new subsidies for clean energy. The market is doing the regulating.

We now see the truth of the adage that there is no quicker, easier way to change people’s buying habits than to change the prices of things. And I’m delighted to see, as predicted, that other countries are falling into line and passing similar legislation to lower their global-warming emissions.

Perhaps what is most significant, this market signal is attracting massive amounts of investment into clean-energy alternatives. In the past, people thought wind, solar and geothermal energy could never meet our needs. Now, it is clear they can and will. In the process, they will heal the planetary ecosystem.

Let’s hear it for the carbon tax. Thank you, Congress.

Ellie Whitney of East Windsor is a retired member of the Florida State University biology faculty. She volunteers for Citizens Climate Lobby. Keep the conversation going at njvoices.com.